


I'm Coming Home

by magicmadx



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste is confused, Akumas suck, Captured, Dimension Travel, F/M, Kidnapped, Ladybug wants her kitty back, Multiverse, Plagg is also confused, evil!Ladybug and Chat Noir, good!Hawkmoth, idk how to tag, why is he evil?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-05-15 12:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19296214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicmadx/pseuds/magicmadx
Summary: After being blasted by an Akuma, Chat Noir wakes up alone in a world where everyone he encounters is terrified of him. Desperate for answers, Adrien tracks down the only people who he thinks can help him: this world's Ladybug and Chat Noir.Adrien never realized that that was the worst choice he could have made.





	1. Just Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> It took me a long time to work up the courage to write this story, so I really hope I don't screw it up :P
> 
> This is my first Miraculous fic (not to mention my first fic with multiple chapters planned), but I hope you enjoy

Looking back, they had no reason to believe that this Akuma would any different. For a whole year, they had defeated Akumas with little to no problem (they didn't count Stoneheart; it was their first time, after all). Then again, perhaps they shouldn't have expected it to stay easy forever.

_Knock Knock_

"Adrien, it's time for school," a voice said from the opposite side of the door.

Adrien groaned and pulled the covers over his head, reminiscent of a small child. He contemplated asking for five more minutes, but he knew it would not be taken as a joke.

"Your father will be unhappy if you are late. Wake up and get ready to leave. Your bodyguard will be waiting outside." The blond could hear the silent clicks of Nathalie's heels on the hard ground as she walked away. Peeking a glance at his alarm clock, Adrien read 7:02am, his eyes still blurry from sleep. He quietly let out another groan.

He hadn't gotten home until 5 o'clock last night. He hadn't intended to stay out so long, but a robbery at a nearby shop had grabbed his attention around 2 o'clock, and after that it seemed like all of Paris's criminals decided to come out. Of course, since it was his night to patrol, Ladybug never came to assist, leaving him to stop all of the minor crimes himself. Adrien had finally dragged himself back to his house (and no, he definitely did not trip on his own feet), and into his bed at 5 o'clock. In summary, Adrien was exhausted after his night as Chat Noir.

Of course, he couldn't tell Nathalie that. And he certainly couldn't tell his father. 

So Adrien groggily pulled himself out from his warm covers and made his way to the bathroom (again, he definitely  _did not_ trip over his own feet getting there). After brushing his teeth, Adrien noticed that his hair was more unruly than normal and not as easy to style. With a sigh, he resolved to leave it as is. It wasn't all that important, anyways. 

While looking for some clothes to change into, Adrien's attention was drawn to the still-sleeping kwami curled up on his pillow. With a small smile, he poked the kwami gently, urging it to wake up.

"Wake up, Plagg. We'll be leaving soon," he said quietly. Much like he himself had done minutes earlier, the kwami groaned and refused to open his eyes. However, Adrien knew exactly how to get the sleeping kwami awake.

"I got you some Camembert for breakfast." At this, the kwami's eyes shot open and he sprang from the pillow and into Adrien's face.

"Where?" he asked with urgency. With a grin, Adrien pointed to the small platter on the table in front of his tv. Plagg rushed to the table and happily gorged himself on the stinky cheese until his tiny (yet bottomless) stomach was content. 

_Knock Knock_

"Adrien, I hope you're ready. It's time to leave," his father's assistant said. 

"I'm coming, I just have to grab my bag!" Adrien replied. He ran over to his computer where his bag still sat from the previous day. Opening up his jacket, Adrien motioned for Plagg to get in. The kwami quickly floated into his jacket and the two left his room. 

It had been such a normal morning. He had no reason to believe that his day would be any different.

* * *

_8:03am_

"I can't believe I'm gonna be late again! I didn't even stay up late!" Marinette Dupain-Cheng grumbled as she sprinted across the street. 

"You have got to stop forgetting to set your alarm clock, Marinette!" Tikki, the ladybug kwami said with a small chuckle. "At least you're only 3 minutes late instead of 30 minutes like Tuesday!"

Monday night had been rough for the two superheros of Paris. Not only had there been an Akuma attack at 11 o'clock, but minor crimes following the attack had kept the two heroes on patrol until 4 o'clock. Fortunately, the next two nights had been relatively peaceful. Marinette only hoped it would stay the same tonight; it was her turn to patrol.

"Let's not talk about Tuesday. Hide, Tikki!" Marinette closed her purse, effectively hiding the kwami as she ran through the school doors and ran towards her first class.

Marinette decided that she wouldn't bother sneaking in since she was only three minutes late. After mentally preparing herself, she opened the door to her class to discover, much to her relief, that Ms. Bustier wasn't in the classroom yet. Quickly making her way to her seat, Marinette saw her best friend, Alya, grinning at her.

"Girl, you got so lucky today. Principle Damocles asked Ms. Bustier to come into his office right before she walked into class," Alya laughed. Marinette let out a sigh of relief.

"You can say that again. I don't even know how I was late. I didn't stay up last night," Marinette replied, leaving out that she forgot to set her alarm.

Her friend knew her too well, though.

"Did you set your alarm?" Alya asked with a knowing grin. She already knew the answer. Marinette could only nod. "We'll work on it. Don't forget to set it tonight. Maybe you can actually be on time tomorrow." Marinette knew she would be late. 

Marinette was about to ask if Alya would want to do something after school tomorrow since tomorrow was Friday when their teacher walked into the room.

"Good morning, class. Sorry that I'm late, Principle Damocles asked me to help him with something," Ms. Bustier greeted them with the same bright smile that she always wore. 

"Good morning, Ms. Bustier," several of the students replied. Ms. Bustier went to pick up a marker and began writing on the board when she was interrupted by flashing lights and a blaring alarm. All the students knew was this alarm meant.

An Akuma.

Akuma attacks had become to frequent that the mayor declared that all schools, large shopping centers, and tourist attractions have an Akuma Alert System installed so that citizens could get to safety. 

"Alright class, everyone remain calm and go to one of the safety zones," Ms. Bustier instructed her students. Students began filing out of the classroom, attempting to stay calm, although some were failing to do so. Even though Akuma attacks were frequent, many people were still fearful of them. 

It was during this time that Marinette noticed Adrien was not at school. She hoped he was safe. 

Once out of the classroom, Marinette quickly slipped out of her group and ran towards the bathroom. Once she confirmed she was alone, Marinette opened up her bag, allowing the ladybug kwami to float out.

"I thought we would at least make it to lunch today," Tikki sighed. 

"We'll handle it. Just like always. Tikki, spots on!" A flash of pink light, and Marinette had transformed into Ladybug, one of Paris's two superheros. Running out of the bathroom and out of one of the school's windows, the spotted heroine took to the rooftops to search for the Akuma. She was surprised to see her partner already facing off with the newest Akuma.

Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Ladybug quickly found herself next to her black-clad partner. His baton was stretched out in a defensive position.

"Fancy meeting you here, Bugaboo. Care to wrap this up with me?" He looked her way with a signature Chat Noir grin. 

"As always,  _chaton._ What are his abilities?" Ladybug asked, eyeing the Akuma. His outfit was relatively simple compared to other Akumas. He wore what appeared to be a leotard with designs resembling comic book pages. His boots, gloves, and irises were a dark red, as was the object he held in his left hand. The Akuma's face was pure white; the only distinguishing feature of his face were his eyes. From a distance, his eyes were all you could see. 

"I'm not entirely sure. Whatever he's holding sends out of portal-looking thingy, and whatever goes through it disappears," her partner explained, and Ladybug almost laughed at the vagueness of his explanation. The Akuma took this moment to speak up.

"I'm so glad you could join us, Ladybug. I was getting bored with just the cat around," his voice boomed across the roof. It was much louder than Ladybug had anticipated. "Don't bother with giving one of your inspiration 'hero speeches.' I'm here for your Miraculous jewels and nothing else." Ladybug heard Chat Noir sigh beside her.

"He's been getting straight to the point like that ever since I found him. Doesn't even give me time for a nice pun," Ladybug could almost hear the whimper in his voice. 

Pulling out her yo-yo, Ladybug glared at the Akuma, who had yet to reveal his name. The akuma had to be in the object he was holding. From where she was, it resembled a bubble wand, but much larger. 

"Ready,  _chaton?"_ the spotted heroine asked her partner. 

"Always, M'Lady." 

They both took off towards the Akuma, weapons drawn and ready.

The Akuma, however, just stood there with a smile upon his face.

* * *

It didn't take long to figure out that this Akuma was powerful. He had yet to even use the object in his hand and was still able to deflect and dodge their attacks.

Paris's two heroes panted slightly as they tried to regain their breath. The Akuma, who had revealed himself as Planet Hopper (how did Hawkmoth come up with these names?) didn't even look winded. 

"I believe it might be time for some of your charm, LB. I'll keep him distracted," Chat Noir said as he darted off the Planet Hopper again. Taking this opportunity, Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air.

"Lucky Charm!"

A spotted mirror fell into her hands.

Moments after receiving the lucky charm, Chat Noir returned to her side, breathing a bit harder but otherwise looking fine. Glancing around her, Ladybug noticed Chat's ring, the mirror, and the Akuma's 'bubble wand' as Chat Noir had taken to calling it. 

"I have a plan. We're gonna need your catacl-" Ladybug started, but never got the chance to finish her statement as she was roughly pushed out of the way, the mirror leaving her grasp and flying up in the air.

"Look out!" Chat Noir cried out. It all happened so quickly that Ladybug hardly even noticed it. Planet Hopper had shot out two beams from his 'bubble wand' aiming for both her and Chat Noir. Thanks to her partner, the beam meant for Ladybug hit the mirror instead, reflecting back to the Akuma. 

Chat Noir, however, did not have time to dodge his beam.

The beams had been brighter than Ladybug had expected them to be and she was momentarily blinded. Her vision slowly began returning, however, and she frantically stood back up, preparing to defend herself in case Planet Hopper decided to attack. She was surprised to say the least when no attack came. Looking around, Ladybug noticed that Planet Hopper had vanished.

And with him, Chat Noir had vanished as well. 

 


	2. Not in Kansas Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More people noticed this story than I expected, and I am so thankful to everyone who has read so far. Thank you!
> 
> I've planned and formatted all the way through chapter 6, but I most likely will not be able to write a chapter everyday (I have no schedule if you haven't noticed) but I will begin writing out chapter 3 this weekend. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The first thing Adrien noticed upon waking up was his aching head. The second thing he noticed, however, was that it was nighttime.

And last he checked, it hadn't even been 10am.

Adrien rubbed at his sore head, realizing that he was still clad in his Chat Noir suit. Other than his headache, Adrien felt no pain, which meant that whatever that Akuma had blasted him with wasn't meant to hurt. The leather clad hero was still trying to figure out what it did do, though.

Even though he had only been awake for less than five minutes, Adrien knew that something was different. A feeling of uncertainty and dread had washed over him immediately upon opening his eyes. Something was wrong.

Chat Noir's first plan was to contact Ladybug. Pulling out his baton, he quickly opened it up and pressed on her icon. A red 'X' covered the screen.

_She's not transformed,_ he thought to himself. 

Chat Noir's next course of action was to figure out what had happened. That Akuma attack had been this morning, and he was only just now waking up. Scaling down the building he was on, Chat Noir quickly located a small food stand with a couple people in line. He approached the stand with the friendly looking people, but the feeling of dread refused to leave him.

"Um, excuse me? Can any of you tel-" Chat Noir's question was cut off when the vendor yelped in fear, which in turn caused those in line to turn and look at him. A look of utter terror spread across each of their faces and they quickly abandoned the food stand and ran away. 

Chat Noir was left in confusion. The vendor was the only person left. He was, however, holding out a pair tongs in front of him.

"Stay back! I haven't done anything wrong! It isn't past curfew, please don't hurt me!" The man was basically yelling his pleas to the young hero. 

"Curfew? What do you mean? And why would I hurt you?" Chat's head was filled with questions, and the vendor did not want to answer. He responded by ducking underneath the table and out of view. 

Apparently more Parisians had been alerted of his presence due to the vendor's yelling and everyone on the streets quickly rushed inside any building they could find, locking the doors behind them. 

Eventually, Chat Noir was left completely alone in the middle of the normally busy street, the only sounds coming from the scared Parisians stuffed inside the various shops littered around the street. 

If Chat Noir didn't know for sure earlier, he definitely knew now. Something was very, very wrong. 

Pulling out his baton, Chat Noir vaulted back to the rooftops, going as far as he could from the abandoned street. Once he was far enough away, he dropped his transformation.

"Claws in."

The black kwami floated out from his ring and into Adrien's hand where a nice, smelly piece of Camembert was waiting for him. Adrien wanted to wait for the kwami to finish eating before asking any questions, but he was too confused to wait.

"Plagg?" the teen asked quietly.

"Mmph?" Plagg mumbled, his mouth still full of cheese. Adrien sucked in a breath, closing his eyes to compose himself.

"What just happened?" 

The kwami wished he could give an answer, but in all honesty, he didn't have one. In the past, Plagg had had many Cats who had chosen to go down a dark path, so the kwami was no stranger to fear. However, this Kitten had never given anyone a reason to fear him, despite holding the power of destruction. His Kitten wasn't evil.

"Adrien, I'm gonna answer honestly," Plagg finished swallowing his cheese. "I have no idea."

Adrien groaned.

"Plagg, something is wrong. I don't know what it is, but I can feel it. We have to figure out what is going on here." Adrien ran his hands through his hair in frustration, his kwami now floating beside him. "No one has ever looked at me like that. They looked so scared, Plagg. They-they looked like they thought I was going to kill them." By this point, Adrien felt his eyes began to sting at the realization of what he had just said. He had never seen anyone look at him like that, and the thought terrified him. 

Plagg gently landed on Adrien's shoulder.

"Kid, calm down. Something is definitely wrong here, but we'll figure it out." Plagg was not used to reassuring people, but Adrien was special to him. In all his many years of life, the kwami of destruction had never had such an emotional Cat. He needed reassurance, and if Plagg was the only one to give it to him, then the kwami would do so happily.

At the kwami's words, Adrien felt a bit of his tension leave. 

"We have to find someone to talk to. Figure out what's going on here," Adrien finally resolved after calming himself down a bit. The kwami gave a short nod. "Plagg, claws out!" 

A flash of green, and Chat Noir took Adrien Agreste's place. 

Hopping to another set of rooftops, Chat Noir found a young man and woman walking together. They was no one else around to cause a scene, so he decided that they would be his best bet. Leaping from the rooftop, he landed about ten feet in front of them. At his appearance, the young couple turned to run, but Chat Noir called out to them.

"Wait, stop!" He yelled. Chat was a bit surprised when they actually stopped. He put his hands up beside his head to prove he wouldn't do anything, and slowly began to approach the two.

"Please, we're just walking home, we swear," the man said. Chat Noir winced when he heard the quiver in his voice. Keeping his hands beside his head, he began to talk.

"I'm not gonna do anything, I promise. I just have a few questions." When the couple made no move to run, Chat continued. "Why is everyone afraid of me? And what is this curfew I've been hearing about?" He asked. The couple looked at him in disbelief.

"You should know. You and Ladybug are the one's who put the curfew into place." Chat was about to question the man on this statement, but the young lady continued the man's thoughts.

"Don't play innocent. You've been terrorizing this city for over a year now! You and Ladybug," the woman spat out, but her eyes quickly widened in fear as she realized what she had said. Those words had obviously been on her mind for a long time. The man instantly pushed the woman behind him, fearing that Chat Noir would harm her.

Chat Noir, however, was frozen in place. He and Ladybug, terrorizing the city? That didn't sound right. Hawkmoth was the one terrorizing the city! Chat Noir had a feeling that he wasn't exactly where he thought he was.

"That's all I needed to know. Thank you," Chat said quickly, not trusting his voice completely. Pulling his baton back out, he again took to the rooftops. The teen dropped his transformation, his face distraught and fearful.

"Plagg," he said, almost trembling. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

* * *

"Fragile looking thing, isn't he? I almost feel bad about what we're going to do," a male voice said, glancing at the frantic little kitten on the rooftop. "Almost."

"You know I can't see him, idiot. What are you talking about this time? An Akuma? Or did Hawky decide to actually join us this time?" Another voice, female, asked through the small device the male was holding. 

"Neither. It's not Hawkmoth, but it is definitely not an Akuma. I'm gonna bring him back, and I'm gonna figure out who he thinks he is," the man grumbled angrily. His teeth clenched at the sight of the boy. The fact that his costume was perfectly matched made his anger grow even more.

"Oh? And why is that? What's so special about him if he's not an Akuma? Not to mention that you seem even more confident and cocky than usual, if that's even possible," the female asked through the device. The man growled.

"You'll understand when you see him," the man answered. "As for my confidence, I have no reason to fear him. He's just a little Copycat." 

Turning off the device, the man stood to his full height, his green eyes piercing through the night. His black suit blended into the night sky, making him almost invisible. If anyone saw him, they would cower in fear. He flexed his hands so that his claws stuck out farther and his tail lashed behind him. 

"And he's about to learn that a copy is never better than the original."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See y'all next chapter


	3. An Unexpected Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a while to finish, but this weekend has been a bit hectic
> 
> Enjoy!

After the Akuma attack, the rest of Marinette's day was not very eventful.

Upon the initial realization that her partner had disappeared, she had, understandably, panicked. After all, people don't usually vanish into thin air, so Marinette felt that she was justified in her frantic panicking. The beeping of her earrings was the only thing that brought her back to reality. 

Finding a secluded alley, Marinette allowed her transformation to fall, revealing a just as equally panicked Tikki.

"To state the obvious, what just happened, Tikki?" Marinette asked the bug kwami, handing her a cookie from her purse. Tikki gratefully took a bite before answering.

"I'm not sure, but Hawkmoth definitely created a powerful Akuma this time," the kwami replied. Tikki's face suddenly changed from worried to terrified. "Something is wrong. I can't sense Plagg anymore." Marinette stared at her kwami in confusion before she spoke up again.

"Sense? What do you mean you can't sense Plagg anymore? And who is Plagg?" the teen asked.

"Plagg is Chat Noir's kwami. Since we are two halves of a whole, Plagg and I have a special connection. As such, we can always sense each other," Tikki explained. Marinette could hear the fear in her voice. "But I can't sense him. What if something has happened to him?!" 

Tikki's words did nothing to alleviate Marinette's already existing fear. The small kwami obviously had a very strong connection with Plagg if the thought of something happening to him was this strong.

"We'll figure it out. I don't know how, but we'll find Chat and his kwami," Marinette said with a small smile. Tikki nodded and finished her cookie. 

Marinette was about to ask another question when her phone gave two quick beeps. She'd recognized that notification anywhere. Marinette had set her phone to send a notification whenever Alya posted to the Ladyblog. It had been surprisingly useful. Marinette would not have noticed many of the Akumas had it not been for Alya bravely (and stupidly) live-streaming any Akuma she came across. 

Marinette was not surprised that Alya had already posted to the Ladyblog. The Akuma had been very close to the school, so Alya had no doubt filmed the whole fight. 

Wait a second...

"Of course! The Ladyblog! Alya must've filmed the whole fight! We can run back home to watch the video to see what happened. There has to be some clue about what happened to Chat." Marinette could have shouted at this realization, but she decided against it in order to keep attention away from the strange girl talking to her purse in a dark alley.

"Good idea, Marinette! Let's go!" the kwami agreed.

Since the Akuma attacked so close to her school, it didn't take long for Marinette to arrive home. She quickly greeted her parents before running upstairs to her bedroom. Turning on her computer, she found that she already had the Ladyblog pulled up.

"Alright, Tikki. Let's found out what happened to our  _chatons,"_ Marinette said as she pressed play on the video. Fast-forwarding to the end, she started it right when she called on her Lucky Charm.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Watching the video, it seemed like just any other Akuma attack. She watched as she Chat Noir jumped back over to her. Just as she started explaining the Lucky Charm, Planet Hopper sent out the two blasts. Slowing down the video, Marinette saw how close she was to getting hit. Had Chat not pushed her out of the way, she would most likely has disappeared with him. 

Marinette gasped as she saw the blast hit the mirror instead of her and reflected back to Planet Hopper. The blast had been so bright that she hadn't seen anything. Her eyes flew wide open when she watched both her partner and the Akuma disappear. On the other side of the camera, Alya could be heard gasping in surprise and fear. The video ended right as Marinette stood back up. 

"How strange. Both Chat Noir and Planet Hopper were hit by that beak," Tikki stated.

"It makes sense though. I knew that the Akuma wouldn't just leave. He could have easily taken my Miraculous," Marinette replied. The video had definitely answered a few questions, but nothing of vital importance. 

"Wait! Chat Noir and Planet Hopper were both hit by the beam. That means they're probably in the same place," Tikki explained. "If we find Planet Hopper, we find Chat Noir!" 

Marinette's hands flew to her face.

"Tikki, you're a genius! And I know just the person who can help!" 

* * *

"Plagg, I think I know how we can find out where we are," Adrien said, scrunching his nose in disgust as the smell of Camembert wafted through the air. How the tiny kwami could stomach that retched cheese, he would never know.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Plagg asked, although it was muffled through his mouthful of cheese and ended up sounded more like gibberish. Adrien had learned to understand his kwami, however. 

"This world's Ladybug and Chat Noir. I feel like if anyone could help, it'd be them," Adrien told his kwami. Plagg sniffed in return.

"I don't know. Didn't you hear what those people said? They were scared of you, too. It might be a bad idea." Plagg being serious didn't happen too often, so Adrien was a bit surprised to hear his tone of voice.

"I know, I remember. But I can't think of anyone else who could possibly know anything about what's going on. This might be our only chance to figure out where we are," the teen said. With a sigh, Plagg finished the rest of his cheese.

"You're probably right. This place's Hawkmoth might know, but I don't really feel like asking him. If we could even find him," Plagg finally relented. Adrien nodded and stood back up.

"Plagg, claws out!" One flash of green later, Chat Noir took Adrien Agreste's spot.

Bounding across the rooftops, Chat headed for the Eiffel Tower. It was the best vantage point in the city, so it would be a good place to start. 

Since he had already climbed the Eiffel Tower so many times before, it didn't take long for Chat Noir to reach the spot where he and Ladybug usually met up before patrols. He frowned at the thought of his Lady. 

Looking out over the city of Paris, Chat realized how unusually dark it was. Paris was the City of Lights, after all, so to see it so dark was unsettling. 

"I'm guessing they won't just jump out in front of me and say, 'Here we are!' so it looks like I'm gonna have to go patrolling," Chat said to himself. Using his baton as leverage, the young hero took to the rooftops.

Chat Noir usually reveled in his nightly patrols. The feelings of wind rushing past his face and ruffling his hair was one of the most exhilarating things. Even on his most stressful days, he found himself relaxed and calm whenever he felt the cool Paris air all around him.

Tonight, however, the feeling he usually loved felt troubling. 

Like a storm was brewing.

Chat's green eyes pierced through the night, scanning every rooftop, every street, and every alley. He had, however, seen no sign of Ladybug or Chat Noir. 

He continued on like this for about half an hour: hopping from roof to roof, looking for any sign of himself and Ladybug. 

Stopping to catch his breath, Chat Noir leaned up against the small wall on the roof he was on, peering up into the sky. With a small smile, he realized how clear the stars were when all the lights were turned off.

"See anything interesting?" 

Chat Noir's breath hitched. Pulling out his baton, he spun around and bent down into a defensive stance. However, he was met with nothing.

"Ooh, the kitty's on edge," the voice taunted. It was definitely a male, and if the deepness of it was any indication, it was also an adult. Could it be an Akuma?

"Who are you?" Chat Noir asked. He frowned when he heard his voice slightly quiver.

"Ah ah ah, you don't get to ask the questions," the voice replied. Chat's eyes were darting from corner to corner, trying desperately to find the stranger. Even with his night vision he couldn't find him. 

"Too afraid to show yourself, then?" Chat retorted, trying his hardest not to sound as afraid as he felt. The man chuckled at his words.

"I guess if that's what you really want, then I will not decline." A figure suddenly landed in front of Chat Noir, and he noticed with a grimace that he was much larger than himself.

That was not what terrified the teen, however.

He was looking at  _himself._

Chat Noir had not expected Chat Noir 2.0 to be an adult. Something about his physical presence struck fear into Adrien, and he suddenly felt the need to get away. Like something inside of him was telling him to  _run._ Before he got the chance to, however, the older Chat Noir leaned down to Adrien's height and glared into his eyes.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do,  _Copycat,"_ he spat out with a look of anger.

Chat Noir's fear spiked as the need to run surged through him again. Slamming one side of him baton onto the ground, Chat Noir pushed himself into the air and bolted to the next rooftop, trying to put as much distance between himself and Chat Noir 2.0 (despite his fear, he couldn't find it in himself to call the adult anything else). 

"Plagg, you were right. This was a bag idea." Adrien yelped as he heard the older Chat Noir land on the rooftop. He realized with dread that he was catching up to him, and  _quickly._

Pushing himself to his limits, Chat went down on all fours, hoping that Plagg's cat instincts would surface and give him the extra speed he needed. Chat grinned when he found himself going a bit faster, but yelled as felt something grab his tail.

"Not quite fast enough, Copycat." Chat 2.0's hand quickly wrapped around Chat's neck and the teen instantly struggled to take in a breath.

Black spots began to creep into Chat's vision and his claws swiped furiously and the adult's arm in an attempt to loosen his grip. Just when Chat thought he was about to pass out, the gloved hand released, and the teen fell to the ground.

"Actually, I've got a better idea," the adult stated as Chat coughed and rubbed at his sore throat. Looking back up at his attacker, his eyes widened just in time to see a silver baton come swinging down towards his head.

Then his vision was filled with darkness. 

 


	4. It Takes Two to Tango

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this might be my longest chapter thus far.
> 
> I really hope y'all enjoy!

Ladybug was outside Alya’s window, perched up on the fire escape, her hand hovering beside the glass and contemplating whether or not she should knock.

With a groan, she sat down with her back against the railing and dropped her transformation. Tikki looked at her with confused eyes.

“What’s wrong, Marinette? I thought you wanted to ask Alya to help find Chat Noir,” Tikki asked. Marinette started gesturing wildly with her hands.

“I just feel bad about involving her. You know Alya; she’s not gonna focus on anything else until we find Chat Noir. What if she starts failing school? Or what if she gets distracted while walking outside and gets hurt?” Marinette frantically gave every possibility that came to her mind. “Even worse, what if she gets so frustrated and becomes an Akuma?!”

“Marinette, don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?” Tikki said with a small chuckle. “You and Alya are strong girls. I know this situation is stressing you out, but I know you can handle it, along with Alya!” Tikki encouraged the young girl. Marinette was going to retort back, but she stopped herself with a sigh.

“I guess you’re right. Besides, I need more evidence. I don’t think I could do this alone. Tikki, spots on!” Marinette made sure to say the phrase quietly. Standing back up, she tapped her knuckles against Alya’s window. It didn’t take long for the curtain to be pulled back and for the window to be opened.

Ladybug almost laughed and Alya’s wide eyes and shocked expression.

“Ladybug?! What-what are you doing here?” Marinette could see her best friend physically vibrating with exciting upon seeing the masked heroine.

“I hate to burden you with this, Alya, but I’m in desperate need of some help. You saw the fight today, right?” Ladybug asked. She waited for Alya to nod her affirmation before continuing. “Then you know that my partner has disappeared. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough clues, so I need some Ladyblog skill to help me track him down,” Ladybug finished with a grin.

Alya could have died right then and there and she would have been totally fine with that. Ladybug was in _her_ room, asking _her_ for help. Her life was complete. A look of determination suddenly etched itself into her face.

“What do you need?” Alya asked her hero.

“I got to the fight a bit late this morning. Chat had already been fighting him by the time I arrived, so I never got to see what all he was capable of. Did you happen to see the Akuma prior to my arrival?” the masked heroine asked.

“Well, I myself didn’t. I was in school when the Akuma first attacked,” she admitted as she scratched at the back of her head. “But, a lot of people got the Akuma on video and sent it to my email. I haven’t been able to watch them yet, but I can pull them up and see if we can figure anything out.”

“That’s a great idea, Alya. We can start there,” Ladybug nodded. Pulling out her laptop, Alya quickly opened it up and logged into her email. Just as she had said, Alya had received many emails regarding the recent Akuma attack. While most of the emails were questions regarding the Akuma itself, there were a lot of videos that had been sent in.

Clicking on the first video, the two girls noticed that whoever was recording was hiding in some bushes. Fortunately, the leaves didn’t block too much, and Planet Hopper could be clearly seen. The person recording gasped when Planet Hopper pulled out his ‘bubble wand’ and began to shoot beams at various objects littered around the street.

Marinette realized that the beams looked the same as the ones that were shot at her and Chat Noir. Just like her partner, all the objects he hit vanished into thin air.

The video ended when Planet Hopper looked in the camera’s direction.

Alya scrolled to the next video. In this one, the person recording was hiding behind a car. It sounded like a girl around their age, and you could hear her quickened, panicked breaths. Ladybug was wondering why the Akuma wasn’t moving. It was then that she realized the purple mask around his face.

She was about to mention something when the mask disappeared. The Akuma moved back into action, pulling out his weapon and moving it in a circular motion in front of himself. Instead of a beam shooting out, a portal appeared, immobile, in front of him. Planet Hopper stepped through and the portal disappeared with him.

“Wow. I didn’t know he could do that,” Marinette heard Alya say beside her.

The rest of the videos didn’t show any additional powers. Planet Hopper either shot out beams or created portals. The last video was when Chat Noir arrived on the scene. The video showed Planet Hopper menacingly pointing his weapon at a small child alone on the street. She would have been hit had Chat Noir not leapt in and saved her.

The bystanders cheered at the appearance of one of Paris’s heroes. Chat quickly deposited the child to her parents before returning to face the Akuma. The video cut out before anything else could happen.

“So we’ve learned about his powers. Now we need to figure out where the stuff he hits goes. That’s probably where Chat Noir is,” Ladybug finally said. “Has anyone found any of the vanished objects?”

“No one has reported anything. Everyone who lost something is still looking for it.”

Ladybug thought for a moment. Chat Noir would have most definitely contacted her by now if he had been able to. The masked heroine suddenly slapped a hand to her forehead.

“Ugh, I’m such an idiot,” she said as she pulled out her yo-yo. She scrolled to Chat’s icon and almost cried in relief when it said he was online. Ladybug quickly pressed on his picture to call but frowned when the call didn’t go through.

“What’s wrong?” Alya asked hesitantly.

“Chat Noir is online, but the tracker isn’t working. And whenever I call him, it says he has no service,” Ladybug replied.

“Well, he must just be somewhere with no cell towers. That should make the search easier, right?” Alya asked. Wasn’t this good news? Ladybug shook her head.

“It doesn’t work like that. My yo-yo and his baton don’t need cell service to work. They aren’t like normal cell phones, so the fact that I can’t reach him is…troubling,” she explained to her friend.

“So Chat Noir is alive, but he can’t communicate with you?” Alya inquired. Ladybug nodded her head.

“Since we don’t need service, that means that its something else preventing us from contacting each other. I can’t think of anything capable of blocking it, though,” Ladybug said, mostly to herself. She would have to consult Tikki later. The kwami would know more than she would.

Alya seemed troubled by Ladybug’s words. Although the Ladyblogger was a huge fan of Ladybug, she also greatly admired and respected Chat Noir, and the thought of something happening to him was worrisome. He and Ladybug were a team, after all. What would happen if they couldn’t find him?

“I’m sorry this is happening to you. I know that you must be really worried about him,” Alya said sympathetically. She rested a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder. “I’ll do everything I can to help you get your partner back.” Ladybug smiled at her friend’s kind words.

“Thank you, Alya. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“As much fun as this has been, I’ll probably need to head to bed soon. My mom has a habit of making sure I don’t stay up too late on school nights,” Alya added. “You can come back tomorrow night. I’ll ask around tomorrow at school and around town to see if anyone knows anything.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then. Thank you so much for your help, Alya. I’ll see you soon!” Ladybug said. Stepping out the window, Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo, giving it a spin and swinging away into the night.

She pretended not to hear Alya’s fangirlish shrieking.

Stopping on a roof nearby her house, Ladybug pulled her communicator back up and clicked on Chat’s icon again. Just to make sure. She closed her eyes and sighed when the call still didn’t go through.

“Where are you, minou?”

Once she had made it back to her house, Marinette dropped her transformation, allowing Tikki to come back out into her room.

“Tikki, why won’t my calls go through? It doesn’t make any sense,” Marinette asked the kwami.

“Hmm, there aren’t many things that can block the Miraculous. Past Ladybugs and Chat Noirs have been able to communicate from different continents,” Tikki replied.

“What _can_ block the Miraculous?” Marinette inquired. Tikki’s floated down to rest on Marinette’s bed and sat down in front of the teen.

“Obviously, if only one of the Miraculouses has a wielder, the other can’t be contacted. But both Miraculouses are active, so we know that isn’t the case,” Tikki said. “Another thing is if only one of you is transformed, but Chat’s baton is online, so his transformation still hasn’t dropped. Exhaustion can also be a factor. The suit and communicators are both powered by the kwami it is associated with.

“If Chat Noir has been transformed for a long time, he and Plagg are both most likely pretty exhausted. Sometimes, a kwami is forced to remove some of the abilities in order to keep the transformation active. This is the most likely reason that we cannot contact Chat Noir. The last reason…” Tikki’s words suddenly trailed off. She looked down to the bed, refusing to meet Marinette’s eyes.

“What? What’s the last reason?” Marinette asked her kwami, a feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach. Tikki took in a shaky breath.

“The last reason would be if, if Chat Noir was dead,” the said quietly. Marinette gasped in fear.

“Chat couldn’t be dead! His suit is still active. He-he’s just wherever the Akuma is! We just have to find the Akuma and we’ll find Chat!” Marinette was basically yelling at this point. She couldn’t stand the thought of her partner dying. Images flashed through her head of her partner laying in a puddle of his own blood, his eyes glazed over and unmoving.

“Chat is fine. He’s going to be fine,” Marinette shut her eyes and reassured herself. Tikki floated down to Marinette’s desk to where her computer still had the Ladyblog pulled up. She gazed at the image of Chat Noir on the screen, thinking of how scared the poor boy could be. Thinking about Plagg.

“I hope you’re right, Marinette.”

* * *

Chat Noir awoke to darkness. Or rather, he was in the dark, but could still see (thanks, night vision).

The room he was in was pretty small. There wasn’t anything to look at other than the four walls and a door.

Chat Noir groaned when his head began to throb. He tried to shift to a more comfortable position only to find that he was chained to the wall. That’s when everything came back to him.

He had been out searching for Ladybug and Chat Noir when he heard a voice behind him. Adrien couldn’t remember every detail; his head ached, and his thoughts were fuzzy. But he remembered that older Chat Noir. He had been so scared in that moment that his only instinct was to get away. Ever since he first woke up, Adrien hadn’t been able to get rid of this feeling of dread that continued to persist in the pit of his stomach.

Pulling at the chains to test their strength, Adrien groaned at his foolishness. He had been so eager to figure out what was happening and get back home that he had been hasty. After what those people told him, he should’ve known that this Ladybug and Chat Noir were dangerous and should have avoided them rather than seek them out. But he hadn’t. He had been desperate to get home, and now here he was: chained to a wall in a dark room.

“Plagg, I think I really messed up this time,” Adrien said, knowing that his kwami could hear him despite being in the ring.

Adrien suddenly felt all his frustration bubble up the surface. His eyes began to sting as he realized the situation that he was in. He was all alone in whatever twisted world he had been thrown into. He was being held captive by an older and crueler version of himself.

Adrien realized with dread that he could very well die.

He felt a tear escape his eye at the thought of his friends back at the school. Nino, Marinette, Alya, even Chloe. He might never see them again.

He thought about his father, Nathalie, his bodyguard.

He thought about his Lady.

_Drip_

Adrien felt weak in this moment. He had been so careless and had gotten himself captured. Had he stopped to think for three seconds, he could have come up with a better plan. But instead he had been risky and foolish, and now he could lose his whole world.

He wanted to go home.

Adrien froze when he heard the voices.

It was so quiet that his cat ears almost didn’t even pick it up, but he could hear someone talking. Adrien couldn’t hear what was being said, but he heard someone reply to the first voice. The second voice was feminine, and it sounded angry. Adrien strained to hear what was being said, but it was simply not close enough for his ears to pick up.

Adrien almost sighed in relief when the voices went away. He didn’t want anything to do with his captors, but he knew that an encounter was inevitable.

 _I can’t risk a Cataclysm until I know more about where I am,_ Adrien thought. _Once I use it, I’ll only have five minutes, and it may not be enough to get away._

Adrien frowned when he realized that even after he Cataclysmed the chains, he would still need a way to get out of the room. He could break it down, but it would be very loud. Adrien sighed. That could very well be his only option.

_Maybe it’ll be easier to outrun him if I’m actually prepared for it._

_Click_

Adrien’s eyes widened at the noise. How hadn’t he heard anyone approaching? He must’ve been too focused on figuring out how to escape that it slipped his notice.

He knew who was going to walk through the door before it even opened. Knowing didn’t stop the shiver from going up his spine at the sight of his counterpart, however.

“Aww, the kitty has been crying,” the older man mocked, his tone sounding like he was speaking to a toddler. “You’re a terrible impersonator. I don’t cry.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not an impersonator,” Adrien said back to him.

“We both know that’s not true,” the older Chat said. “When I first saw you, I thought you were an Akuma. Hawkmoth did send Copycat all those years ago, after all. But when I got a close look, I realized that you were nothing more than a fake.”

Adrien was offended. A fake? He was pretty sure the ring on his finger was 100% real and 100% Miraculous.

“Sorry, but I’m not the fake here,” Adrien retorted. The man simply grinned.

“Kitty’s finally growing some claws, eh? Well, as brave as you’re trying to appear, it isn’t going to help you. So, let me ask you a question,” the man started. “Just who do you think you are?”

Adrien frowned.

“What?”

“You either very brave or very stupid to try and impersonate me. And to be honest, I don’t appreciate it. I don’t take very well to people pretending to be me, and I especially don’t like for them to accuse _me_ of being the fake,” the older Chat said, a growl forming in the back of his throat. “So, tell me, Kitty Noir, _just who do you think you are?”_

And there it was, the fear. The same fear he had felt when he had first seen the older Chat on the roof. Adrien couldn’t find it in himself to give an answer, simply staring at the older man who appeared to be growing angrier by the second.

_Be brave._

What?

_Don’t let him scare you. Be brave._

Upon everything else that was panicking him at the moment, Adrien almost began to panic at the strange voice that had just started to talk to him. But something about it was familiar, and comforting…

_Geez, kid, it’s just me._

Adrien could have shouted with joy. Never had he been so happy to hear that voice. Plagg’s voice. He would have to ask him later how he was able to-

“Answer me!” the older Chat’s patience was wearing thin.

_Be brave. You’re Chat Noir, for crying out loud, kid._

“You know who I think I am? I think I’m Chat Noir. No, I _know_ I’m Chat Noir, and I think that you’re just the impersonation,” Adrien could’ve slapped himself in the face. He had actually just said that to a very angry man who was very capable of hurting him, and not to mention that he was already very angry with him. “And while you’re here, do you mind taking these chains off? I’m claws-trophobic, you know?” Adrien flashed him a trademarked Chat Noir grin.

The older Chat Noir’s face scrunched up at the words, his nostrils flaring and his slit pupils dilating in anger.

“I was going to try to be nice. I really was. First you insult me with your impersonation, and now you’re accusing me? I don’t think so, _chaton_ ,” the man glared down at the chained teen.

Adrien felt a growl escape his throat.

“You don’t get to call me that. Only one person can call me that, and you’re not her,” Adrien was offended for his Lady.

“That mouth of yours is really starting to piss me off, you little piece of s-“ the older Chat Noir raised his clawed hand to strike when light flooded the room and a voice interrupted him.

“Chat Noir! We need to talk, _now,”_ the woman demanded. Adrien recognized it as the angry woman he had heard earlier. When she was this close, she almost sounded like-

“Ladybug, I’m a bit busy at the moment if you haven’t noticed,” Chat Noir retorted back angrily, gesturing to Adrien chained on the ground in front of him.

“I didn’t ask,” she said as she leveled her own glare back at him. Adrien almost shivered at her menacing tone.

With a growl, the older Chat Noir turned to leave, but quickly turned back to Adrien and kneeled in front of him.

“Just to remind you that I’m not finished with you yet,” he said, and swiped a clawed hand at Adrien’s left cheek. The teen gasped, not having expected the blow. He winced slightly as he felt small, slow streams of blood trickled from the cuts. They were shallow, but they still stung.

The older Chat Noir stood back up, returning to the door and closing it shut. Adrien heard a click as the door was locked.

_I said be brave, not stupid._

“I know, Plagg,” Adrien replied to his kwami, still a bit shocked that he was able to hear him.

He really wanted to go home.

 


	5. One Step Forwards, Two Step Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest, I thought I was going to abandon this story because I didn't feel motivated to write anything. This is the first thing I've written in months. But then I read some of y'all's comments and it gave me my motivation back. 
> 
> There's no Chat Noir this chapter, but I promise he'll be back next chapter!
> 
> I do not have a beta reader and I most likely missed something during proof-reading, so if there's a typo or grammatical error, please let me know and I will correct it. 
> 
> I'm so sorry for the wait, but please enjoy Chapter 5!

_Click click click_

The soft tapping of Nathalie’s heels was the only sound that filled the empty halls of the Agreste mansion. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Agreste was holed away in his office, presumably working on a new winter clothesline, leaving Nathalie to make sure Adrien was up and ready for school on time.

Not that it was ever any different.

She checked her watch as she approached the large door of the youngest resident in the much-too-large house. _7:02am._ Later than normal, but it would be an adequate amount of time to prepare for the day, eat something for breakfast (alone, like the boy always did), and leave on time for school.

Nathalie stopped once she stood in front of Adrien’s door and listened for a short moment. She let out a small cough, and was answered with an echo, and then a resounding silence. How she would have hated to have grown up in an environment such as this. No matter the time of day, that’s all there was: silence.

Releasing a quiet sigh, Nathalie knocks on Adrien’s door, just as she does every morning.

She says, “Adrien, it’s time to wake up for school,” just as she does every morning.

She gives him a moment before knocking again, reminding him that it’s time to get ready, just as she does every morning.

This is the part where she hears a muffled groan and the quiet thud of feet hitting the floor as Adrien drags himself to the bathroom.

Except she doesn’t. She’s met with nothing but the blasted silence that permeates every inch of this lonely house.

“Adrien?” Nathalie slowly turns the knob and finds that its not locked as it usually is. The door opens without a sound, but Nathalie would find that it didn’t matter. She searched every inch, every nook and cranny, every single spot in the boy’s room.

But Adrien wasn’t there.

There was no sign of a break in; the windows were closed, the alarm system hadn’t gone off, the cameras—

_Of course._

Nathalie sprinted to her desk as fast as her heels would allow. She all but fell into her chair and pulled up the house’s security system, quickly locating the camera feed. Rewinding it to yesterday, about the same time, she saw Adrien leave the mansion for school.

She fast forwarded to when Adrien arrived home every single day. Exactly _3:05pm._

He never came home.

“No, that’s not right. Can’t be,” she re-winded it again, watching from 2:45pm to 4:00pm. Adrien was always home by that time, and he always let her know if he would be late. He never showed up.

“No, no, no!” Nathalie exclaimed in frustration at her computer screen. She watched again one last time to make sure her eyes weren’t simply failing her. But there was no mistake that Adrien had never returned from school yesterday.

And none of them had noticed.

Nathalie stood from her desk, sprinting again (she decided to take her heel’s off; she had already had to run twice in less than an hour) to Gabriel’s office. She steeled herself and knocked on his door.

“Mr. Agreste…” she said, breathless.

“I’m busy, Nathalie. Please come back after Adrien has left for school.” She could hear the man working on his tablet.

“But sir, this is important,” she persisted.

“Nathalie, please—”

“Adrien never came home yesterday.” She didn’t usually interrupt Gabriel, as she ran the risk of setting off his temper, but he had to know.

Once again, she was met with silence. This house was cursed with silence.

And finally, the door opened, revealing Gabriel Agreste on the other side.

“What do you mean, Adrien never came home?” His tone was menacing, and Nathalie knew she would have to tread carefully.

“I went to wake him for school, as I normally do, and he was not in his room. I checked the cameras to make sure he didn’t sneak out, but he never even returned,” she explained.

Gabriel was fuming, but he hid it well. She had expected nothing less.

“And why is it that I am just now being told this?”

“I didn’t even know until now, sir. His bodyguard never returned, either.” Nathalie had noticed Gorilla’s absence as well, but she knew Gabriel didn’t care as much for his whereabouts.

Mr. Agreste’s face fell, his grimace leaving and being replaced by a frown of frustration.

“There are a few possibilities with this situation. Either Adrien was caught in yesterday’s akuma attack,” his anger slowly began to return. “Or my son has run away.”

Nathalie could sense the rise in Gabriel’s anger. While she did not believe that Adrien would run away, she knew that the boy felt trapped in this house. In all honesty, she probably would have tried to get some time of freedom had she been in his shoes.

“Gabriel—”

“Leave, Nathalie,” he interrupted. Nathalie knew he did not wish to converse any longer. With a slight nod, she turned and left his office, shutting the doors behind her.

Retreating back to her office, Nathalie found herself watching the camera footage again. She would give anything to know where the boy was and if he was safe.

She barely even got a warning; a slight fluttering noise and then it was too late.

An akuma had flew into her glasses.

“Tracker, I am Hawkmoth,” She heard Gabriel’s angry voice. “But you already knew that. Find my son, no matter the cost.”

Hawkmoth usually gives his akumas a choice. Almost in every case, the akumas accept (or are not strong enough to decline). However, this time, there was no decision. Hawkmoth commanded this one.

“Yes, Hawkmoth.” The transformation encompassed Nathalie’s body, and soon she found herself clad in a black jumpsuit fitted with golden lines across the seams. Her glasses had turned into a sort of tracking device, enhancing not only her sight, but her hearing and smell as well.

“I will find Adrien Agreste. No matter the cost.”

* * *

 

Believe it or not, Marinette actually woke up on time.

Maybe it was her nerves, maybe it was because she hadn’t really fallen asleep in the first place because images of her partner alone, hurt, or even dead somewhere flooded her mind every time she closed her eyes. Maybe it was because she actually got quality sleep for once.

Scratch that, it definitely couldn’t have been that.

Marinette had already decided that after school, she would contact Alya and take her to the Akuma site to investigate. She was also hoping that, unlike yesterday, her plans would actually happen.

Her mother looked surprised as she walked down the stair and into the bakery. Her father had a smug look on his face.

“Oh, you definitely aren’t my daughter. My Marinette Dupain-Cheng wouldn’t be up for another 30 minutes, and when she finally did wake up, she would be sprinting through the bakery, knocking over an entire rack of freshly baked bread.”

“Dad, that was one time,” she groaned, although he didn’t miss the smile on her face. It left when the girl saw what her mother was watching on the news.

“—akuma yesterday, and there are still no signs of Chat Noir’s whereabouts. While we are certain he will return, his absence is just as upsetting. In other news, a new exhibit will be opening—” she didn’t pay much attention after that.

“It’s so sad about Chat Noir. I hope he is okay,” Sabine said, still looking at the TV.

“Me too.” Both parents missed the look that crossed Marinette’s face. “I’ve gotta go. Bye maman, bye papa.”

“Bye, sweetie!” Both parents waved goodbye to their daughter.

Waiting at the streetlight, Marinette opened her purse to look at the small kwami inside. The kwami looked up from the macaron she was currently eating.

“Do you think we’ll find him, Tikki?” Marinette asked her small friend.

“We’ve gotta have hope, Marinette. And we have to look everywhere.” She took the last bite of the macaron.

“I know. But it’s…difficult not knowing.” The light turned green and Marinette walked across. Tikki didn’t reply, but Marinette heard a small sigh come from her purse. She knew the kwami was just as worried as she was.

Marinette was not surprised to see Alya already at school. Alya, however, was _very_ surprised to see Marinette already at school.

“Wow, girl. I didn’t know you were capable of waking up before 8 o’clock,” the Ladyblogger greeted with a smile. Marinette could tell just from Alya’s body language that her friend wanted to tell her something, and Marinette had a suspicion that she knew what it was.

“Believe it or not, I actually can. I woke up early and decided to go ahead and come to school,” Marinette replied.

Alya suddenly let out a squeal.

“Okay, I can’t keep it in any longer. You will never guess who came to my house last night,” Marinette was going to guess someone, but she didn’t even get the chance. “Ladybug! She asked me if I could help her find out what happened with Chat Noir and try and figure out what happened to him.”

“That’s awesome, Alya. I’m so happy for you.” Marinette smiled at her dear friend. Behind her, however, she could hear running footsteps.

Within seconds, Nino had run up to them, out of breath. He tried to say something, but none of his words came out right as he was still trying to take in as much breath as he could.

“Slow down there, Nino. What is it?” Alya asked her boyfriend as he straightened himself out, taking one last breath.

“Did you here about Adrien?” He asked. When both girls shook their head no, he continued. “Well, after the Akuma attack yesterday, I called him to make sure he was okay, like I do after every attack, and he didn’t answer. Which sometimes he can’t because of his old man and all, so I wasn’t too worried. I tried calling him again last night, but it went straight to voicemail.

“I started to get worried, because he _always_ calls back. Eventually, I decided to call their assistant’s—or whatever she is—number that he gave me to call in case of an emergency. She answered when I called this morning, but apparently Adrien never came home after school yesterday!” Alya and Marinette both gasped, their hand going up to cover their mouths.

“I’m so worried about him, dude. What if that Akuma thing, like, got him or something? Something about her sounded weird though, like she was a recording or something.” Nino finally concluded.

“That’s awful! Poor Adrien. I hope that he’s safe.” Marinette’s mind was in shambles; not only was her best friend missing, but now the love of her life as well?

“So many people got hit with that blast yesterday. Who knows where they could be?” Alya looked like she wanted to ask another question, but the bell for 1st block interrupted any thought she may have had.

“Let’s finish this later.”

* * *

Marinette thought the day would never end.

As soon as the final bell rang, she bolted from the classroom to an alley hidden from the eyes of the Parisian people. Opening her purse, she allowed Tikki to fly out.

“Let’s see if we can figure anything out. Tikki, spots on!” The kwami flew into the earrings, and soon Ladybug was soaring the skies of Paris.

She landed on a nearby rooftop and pulled out her yo-yo to contact Alya. It took a total of one ring for her friend to answer.

“Hello?” Alya answered expectantly.

“Hello, Alya. This is Ladybug. Can you meet me at the Akuma site?” Ladybug asked the blogger.

“Of course! I just left school, so I’m really close-by. I’ll be there in five minutes,” the girl answered.

“Thank you, Alya. I’ll see you there.” The spotted heroine hung up, swinging towards the dreaded Akuma site.

She hadn’t realized how badly the blast had actually damaged the building, and with her Lucky Charm destroyed, she had been unable to fix anything. The two beams had left a large, charred area on the roof, and there was ash still shifting in the wind. Ladybug could still faintly smell the burn.

Pretty soon, she heard Alya climbing the fire escape and, eventually, climbing onto the roof.

“So this is where it happened, huh?” Despite her giddiness at being this close to her favorite hero, Alya realized the seriousness of the situation when she saw the damage that had been left behind.

“This is it. Unfortunately, I don’t see much that’s been left behind. Scope of that side of the roof, and I’ll check the other.” Ladybug turned to check for anything, any piece of evidence that had been left behind, while Alya did the same to the side she was on.

Neither girls found much, although while they were searching, a thought did come to Marinette’s mind.

“Hey, Alya, do you happen to have the video of Chat Noir and Planet Hopper getting hit on your phone?” Ladybug asked. The other girl nodded and pulled the video up for Ladybug to see.

She hadn’t noticed really the first time she watched it because she had been so overcome with emotion, but the blasts that hit Chat Noir and Planet Hopper were different than the others that he used. His other beams never left behind the debris and damage that this one did.

“The Akuma used a more powerful blast. I think they could be somewhere different from the other stuff that was teleported.”

“I hadn’t even realized. I guess I was so caught up in tryi—” Alya was cutoff when Ladybug’s hand covered her mouth and pulled the two of them onto the fire escape. Ladybug peered back onto the roof, making sure that she wasn’t visible.

A woman, clad in all-black, landed on the roof near the blast zone. She knelt down, touching the ash with her hand and bringing it back up to her nose to smell it. If her outfit didn’t give it away, her eyepiece definitely did.

This was another Akuma.

“No sign of him, Hawkmoth. But I have picked up a scent. I will continue to follow it.” The woman leapt away, resuming her search.

“She’s definitely looking for Chat Noir. This is the perfect opportunity for Hawkmoth to get his Miraculous,” Ladybug said once she was positive the Akuma would no longer hear them.

“Or their looking for the Akuma,” Alya suggested, a sense of warning in her voice.

“Their most likely in the same place. Find one, find the other, remember?” Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo, checking Chat’s signal again just to be sure.

His status hadn’t changed: he was transformed still but had no signal.

“Poor Chat Noir. He hasn’t transformed for over a day. He must be exhausted.” Ladybug put her yo-yo away, disappointed that they hadn’t found out much in regard to her partner’s location.

“Don’t worry, Ladybug. We’ll find him.”

Ladybug offered Alya a small smile.

“I hope so,” the heroine said. “I hope so.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See y'all next chapter!


	6. Let's Have a Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg y'all I never expected to get feedback so soon after that last chapter. It'd been so long since I posted. I literally cannot thank you all enough. 
> 
> Please enjoy chapter 6 <3
> 
> WARNINGS: mild language, minor violence

The door slammed behind him, causing an echo to resound throughout the hallway.

“Wow, my Kitty Cat obeyed the first time for once. Haven’t seen that happen since we were kids.” The woman, clad in red, looked very unimpressed at her partner as he slammed the door. “No need to act like a child. Tantrums don’t look well on you.”

“What the hell do you want, Bug? I’m a little busy, if you haven’t noticed.” The elder Chat Noir growled, annoyed at the woman for interrupting him.

She stared at him a moment, gaze unwavering, before saying anything.

“You’re a damn idiot, you know that right?”

The black-clad villain rolled his eyes.

“I’m trying to teach the kid a lesson about impersonating me. He’s disrespecting _my_ name and ruining _my_ reputation. I don’t take too kindly to that. You remember Copycat, don’t you?” The smile he gave, had Adrien seen it, would’ve sent chills up his spine.

“How could I forget?” Ladybug was getting increasingly irritated. “You left me to clean up the mess you made. Couldn’t even find where his damn Akuma was. Not that it mattered in the state you left him in.”

The woman sighed before continuing.

“That’s not the point, though. You’ve made a mistake in bringing that kid here.”

Chat Noir stared at her for a moment, not having expected that to be what she wanted to talk about. Before she knew it, he started laughing.

“Please inform me on what is so humorous about this situation, Chat,” she all but commanded.

“Nothing, nothing,” he said in between laughs. “Just the fact that you think that kid is a threat to _us._ You saw the same kid, right? There’s nothing he can do, LB. He’s tied up. Not like he can Cataclysm his way out.”

Once he saw Ladybug’s fists clench, he knew she was reaching the end of her patience.

“What aren’t you understanding? He doesn’t need to be here. Why can’t you wrap your mind around that?” She asked frustratingly.

“We talked about this while I was tracking him. You didn’t have a problem with it then. What’s changed, my dear Ladybug?” He said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“What’s changed is that your stupidity is going to get our cover blown. You know what will happen if Moth finds this place. It’s called a ‘secret’ base for a reason,” Ladybug snorted. “I thought you were at least capable of comprehending that, but I seem to have been mistaken.”

Before she could say another word, the end of a staff was inches away from her face.

“Listen, Bug. I’m already pissed off because of that lousy excuse of a copy in the other room. I don’t need the attitude today,” he warned. “So I suggest you bug off.”

Ladybug calmly pushed the staff out of her face, her gaze still never leaving the other’s eyes.

“ _You_ listen. I’m not going to allow you incompetency to be the reason we get found out. Moth wants our Miraculous just as much as we want his. If he finds out where we’re staying, he’ll have the advantage. While your little protégé in there obviously isn’t an Akuma, I’m willing to bet that he’s a ploy by Moth to figure us out,” she said menacingly. “If he escapes, Hawk Moth will find us.”

“Now you’re being the idiot. You know I won’t let him get away. Even if he manages to leave the room, he won’t get far,” Chat said proudly, throwing a smirk her way. “And don’t call him my protégé. It’ll take more than a costume to earn that right.”

“Good.” She turned to leave but looked at Chat Noir one last time before doing so. “Because if he escapes, I’ll kill both of you myself.”

* * *

 

While he was relieved to be left alone, Adrien still couldn’t shake the uneasiness that had permanently settled into his bones.

He was suddenly all too aware of his situation once he remembered the shallow cuts on his face. They had stopped bleeding, but they revealed something about his captor.

This other Chat Noir wasn’t afraid to hurt others; rather, it seemed he enjoyed it.

Adrien felt a chill travel through his body at the thought.

The Miraculous were supposed to be used for good, to help and protect others. But his adult counterpart was no better than Hawk Moth: using his Miraculous to hurt others for his own self-gain.

Adrien shifted uncomfortably when the chains holding him in place bit into his wrists. He tried pulling at them, but to no avail. He was trapped.

_Trapped._

Suddenly he wasn’t in a small, dark room anymore, but rather at home in his own room. The windows had bars covering them, as did the doors. It reminded him of his nightmare during the Sand Boy incident.

He was chained to his bed, unable to move. The room started to close in on him, getting small and smaller until his knees were pressing up against his chest. He could feel his lungs begin to burn, as his short, quick breaths weren’t bringing in enough air. He-he needed to move. Air, can’t get any air—

_Breathe, Adrien._

There was that voice again. That calming, familiar voice.

Plagg.

_Calm down. You gotta calm down._

“P-Plagg…”

_No speaking until I say so, young man._

Well, Adrien couldn’t argue with that.

Concentrating on his breathing, Adrien was eventually able to calm himself down and uncurled himself, allowing his legs to lay down in front of him and his head to lean against the wall behind him.

_You may speak now._

“Thank you, Plagg.”

_You’re welcome._

“So, how long have you been able to talk to me like this? I don’t ever remember you doing it before,” Adrien asked his kwami.

_Never needed to._

Adrien waited a moment, but Plagg didn’t say anything else.

“That’s it?”

_Yep._

“Alright then,” the boy replied. He tried straining his eyes, but he still wasn’t able to see in the dark room. “Is there any reason I can’t see in the dark as well as I usually can?”

_In order to keep your transformation holding, I had to remove some of your powers in order to preserve energy. I didn’t take them completely away, but you will definitely notice some differences._

At that moment, Adrien’s cat-ears perked up. Although not as strong as it would normally be, he could hear voices on the other side of the door. He recognized one of them as being the older Chat, and the other was female, so he assumed it was an adult Ladybug.

_They don’t sound too happy._

The kwami was right. Whatever the two were arguing about, they sounded angry at each other. Adrien could only pick up a few words, but he heard “kid” a few times and knew they were referring to him.

“Plagg, how are we going to get out of this one?” Chat asked. The kwami didn’t reply immediately, but the young hero was expecting his answer.

_I don’t know. Not yet, anyways._

The door was slammed back open.

“Geez, tone down the anger, Puss in Boots. No need to go slamming every door you come across,” Adrien greeted with his trademarked Chat Noir smile.

“I was hoping those cuts would shut you up. Guess I was wrong.” The older Chat shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it this time. He walked over to the teen and knelt in front of him.

“Where were we again?”

“Oh yeah, I remember. I was telling you that I actually am Chat Noir, which is the truth, by the way. You got angry and decided to tarnish my beautiful face,” Adrien fake-pouted. “Did you really forget that quickly? You really are old.”

A punch in the gut was the answer he received.

Sucking in a breath, Adrien let out a few coughs.

“Rude.”

“If you don’t learn to control that tongue of yours, you’re going to find very quickly that you won’t like my punishments,” the man warned. Chat let out a gasp.

“Sorry sir, but I’m a minor. You can’t be talking that way about me or my ‘tongue,’” Chat smirked.

_Don’t get yourself killed, idiot._

The man surprisingly didn’t lash out.

“I’ve decided to give you another chance to explain why you’ve so rudely decided to tarnish my reputation by parading around in that outfit,” he said, shockingly, in a calm voice.

“I’ve told you already, old man. I _am_ Chat Noir. Your memory is really failing.”

The adult’s tail lashed violently behind him.

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that, kid.” The older Chat pointed to the ring on his right hand. “There’s only one of these, which means there’s only one Chat Noir.”

“Pretty sure I have the exact same ring on my hand, but whatever you say,” Adrien replied.

The man let out a growl from the back of his throat.

“I hope you have a better excuse once I come back later. Be grateful that you’ll have time to think of one.” Adult Chat stood up and began to walk towards the door, but Adrien was determine to convince this Chat Noir that they were technically the same person.

“You’re a model, right?” He asked right before the door was opened.

Adrien had never seen someone’s head snap back so quickly.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, you’re a model, aren’t you?” the teen asked again.

Before he knew it, the older Chat had crossed the room again to where he was chained up and had wrapped his hands around Adrien’s throat.

“How do you know that? Where did you find that out?” The man was yelling at this point.

Adrien wanted to tell him that the reason he knew was because he _was_ Chat Noir, but all that came out was sputtered gasps and gagging. Just as black spots started to dance in his vision, the hands released their grasp.

Adrien sucked in a breath, coughing and choking in his effort to refill his lungs with the air that they were so deprived of.

“Bug was right. You do work for Moth, don’t you?” the man asked him.

“N-no. Like…the complete—opposite, “Adrien barely managed to get out, his words comings in between gasps and coughs.

Adrien could physically feel the anger rolling off the man in waves. He was sure the man was going to kill him, and he probably would have, had his baton not started ringing.

The older Chat grabbed his baton, his hands and arms tense as he did so. He groaned as he read whatever it was on the screen. Putting it away, he glared back down at the boy, still struggling to regain his breath.

“Eventually, there’s not going to be anything to interrupt me. And when that happens, you’ll be wishing I had killed you.”

He was about to leave again when Adrien, as loudly as he could, raised his voice.

“Don’t slam the door on your way out.”

The man turned back around and started to come back in, but Adrien was saved when his baton began ringing again.

When he left, he, of course, slammed the door.

Adrien coughed.

“Rude.”

* * *

 

Chat Noir stomped down the halls, his baton clutched tightly in his left fist. Ladybug was already waiting for him at the exit.

“Thanks for showing up on the third call. Let’s go for the first one next time, okay?” She clearly wasn’t amused.

“The kid knows.”

“What?”

“The damn kid knows my identity,” Chat Noir clarified.

“Poor Chat Noir. If only someone had warned him that bringing that kid here was a bad idea in the first place,” Ladybug mocked. “Oh wait, _I did._ But of course, I’m sure you’ll leave it to me to clean up your mess again.”

“Not this time,” Chat Noir said. “He’s gonna beg me to kill him once I’m done with him.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See y'all next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> See y'all next chapter :)


End file.
